While he’s been a nightmare for everyone, Blagojevich’s scapegoating of state workers for 6 years has been especially disgusting.

Statement of Henry Bayer, executive director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 31, the largest union of Illinois state employees:

“The removal of Rod Blagojevich should be a beginning, not an end. Now leaders must restore faith in state government, reverse cuts to its services and raise revenue to pay the bills.

“State employees work hard to provide the essential services Illinois residents rely on. Over the past decade, two Illinois governors have failed to reflect that commitment to public service. They neglected fiscal responsibility, damaged the quality and efficiency of state services and undermined public confidence in the integrity of government.

“Today the state of state government is bleak. We face billions of dollars in bills for Medicaid providers and pension obligations, failing schools and crumbling infrastructure, shuttered parks and dangerous prisons. The ranks of state workers have been drastically depleted, with those remaining facing forced overtime, huge caseloads and long service backlogs. And our broken tax system can’t support the reinvestment we need to confront these challenges.

“Our union and the nearly 40,000 state employees represented by AFSCME want to work with Governor Quinn and the legislative leaders to rebuild a state government that better serves Illinois residents, appropriately stewards their tax dollars and regains their confidence. It won’t be easy, but we can do it—and we must.”

Blagojevich will leave the Senate and the statehouse immediately after his closing argument to return home on a state aircraft, to avoid any “plane issues,” spokesman Lucio Guerrero said. State lawmakers and Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn have said Blagojevich is not entitled to state transporation home if he is convicted and removed before he leaves.

Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn is at the statehouse. Quinn came own on a state plane with Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke, who will swear him in if he becomes governor. His two sons will also be here.

Otter: Ladies and gentlemen, I’ll be brief. The issue here is not whether we broke a few rules, or took a few liberties with our female party guests – we did.
[winks at Dean Wormer]Otter: But you can’t hold a whole fraternity responsible for the behavior of a few, sick twisted individuals. For if you do, then shouldn’t we blame the whole fraternity system? And if the whole fraternity system is guilty, then isn’t this an indictment of our educational institutions in general? I put it to you, Greg – isn’t this an indictment of our entire American society? Well, you can do whatever you want to us, but we’re not going to sit here and listen to you badmouth the United States of America. Gentlemen!
[Leads the Deltas out of the hearing, all humming the Star-Spangled Banner]

Add this to his Pearl Harbor claims and we now know he is either Otter or Bluto:

D-Day: War’s over, man. Wormer dropped the big one.Bluto: Over? Did you say “over”? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!Otter: Germans?Boon: Forget it, he’s rolling.Bluto: And it ain’t over now. ‘Cause when the goin’ gets tough…
[thinks hard]Bluto: the tough get goin’! Who’s with me? Let’s go!
[runs out, alone; then returns]Bluto: What the fuck happened to the Delta I used to know? Where’s the spirit? Where’s the guts, huh? This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you’re gonna let it be the worst. “Ooh, we’re afraid to go with you Bluto, we might get in trouble.” Well just kiss my ass from now on! Not me! I’m not gonna take this. Wormer, he’s a dead man! Marmalard, dead! Niedermeyer…Otter: Dead! Bluto’s right. Psychotic, but absolutely right. We gotta take these bastards. Now we could do it with conventional weapons that could take years and cost millions of lives. No, I think we have to go all out. I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody’s part.Bluto: We’re just the guys to do it.D-Day: Let’s do it.Bluto: *Let’s do it*!